Economic supports, cash, food: News, initiatives, reports, work groups

Get updates on work in progress by committees, work groups and teams, activity reports, data and interpretation, and performance dashboards.

Initiatives

Deep Poverty Project
The Deep Poverty Project was led by the Department of Human Services cash assistance, food assistance and public health care programs, with consultation from Department of Revenue, Department of Health and faculty from the Humphrey School at University of Minnesota.

The goals of this initiative were to examine how living in deep poverty can lead to poor health and to identify opportunities to address deep poverty through the state's existing programs in order to improve health outcomes.

The final report of this work relied on interviews with people living in deep poverty and health care and social service providers, analysis of administrative data and published research. Outcomes of this project include:
- Program recommendations (pages 11-12 of final report) that have been included in the Governor's budget proposals
- Publication of DHS lead study showing that for every month someone receives Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), their annual health care costs are reduced by nearly $100 per month. Results from "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participation is Associated with Lower Health Care Spending among Working-age Adults without Dependents" study show health care costs among Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare enrollees are lower when enrollees receive SNAP assistance. The John Hopkins' Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved published the study results in May 2022. Read the abstract here.
Two-Gen and Whole Family Systems
Minnesota Whole Family Systems Initiative is a partnership among state agencies, local organizations, communities and families to create system change across government to eliminate racial disparities in program access and outcomes, so all children and families can thrive together. The Department of Human Services grants funds to local organizations throughout Minnesota to engage families and communities in work that creates innovative program designs called "prototypes" to address racial disparities in human services and outcomes. Whole Family Systems focuses on approaches that enable and support the whole family to create meaningful and lasting change in all aspects of their lives: well-being, family preservation, housing, childcare, health and economic stability.

The final report of the 2-Gen Network covers the innovate administrative, funding and operation strategies used by the Department, the theoretical framework that guided the work and finally the work of the grantee sites and the program practice changes that resulted. The Policy and Practice Barriers Study includes perspectives from 2-Gen Network members who are worked directly with families and communities. Additional briefs cover the innovative program approaches and an analysis of administrative data related to the whole family systems work.

Whole Family Systems
- Understanding Obstacles to Digital Equity in Minnesota (2023) (DHS-8499A) (PDF)
2-Gen Network
- 2-Gen Network Projects 2017-2021: The Development, Implementation and Learning from Whole Family Approaches
- Policy and Practice Barriers Study: A Direct Service Perspective (2021) (DHS-8208) (PDF)
Innovative Approaches
Administrative Data Analysis
- Income variability of families on cash assistance in Minnesota (2019) (DHS-3927A) (PDF)
- The effect of child support disregard on MFIP grant (2019) (DHS-3927B) (PDF)
TANF Data Collaborative

Minnesota was selected to participate in the TANF Data Collaborative, an innovative approach to increasing data analytics capacity at state Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) agencies.

The department examined the use of sanctions in Minnesota’s TANF program, Minnesota Family Investment Program, in collaboration with Dakota and Olmsted counties, to better understand the relationship between NOITS rates and sanction rates and then to explore how NOITS and sanctions are associated with race, language, age, and immigration status. Read the research brief here.

Watch this video to hear staff from participating agencies (Minnesota staff featured at 4:30) describe their research questions and discuss building data capacity, integrating datasets, networking with other states, increasing collaboration between state and county agencies, learning new technical skills, and the benefits of being able to draw from diverse skillsets.

Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) and Diversionary Work Program (DWP)

These reports provide data from the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) and Diversionary Work Program (DWP).

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

These reports provide data from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

Research and Evaluation

Other program information

Family Self-Sufficiency and Health Care Program Statistics on Cases, Persons and Expenditures gives statewide data for a series of 10 annual and 13 monthly periods for cash, food and medical programs. The report is based on the month the payment was received. Contact DHS.ReportsAndForecasts@state.mn.us for more information.

Fact sheets on different aspects of economic assistance and supports
Minnesota’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System

Minnesota’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Data System (ECLDS) is a tool that combines data collected by the state departments of Education, Human Services, and Health into one online, interactive database. The system shows population level results related to children's growth and achievement in relation to their participation in a variety of educational and social programs over time. The Kindergarten Reports Economic and Food Assistance Measures reflect the portion of Minnesota’s kindergartener’s and early childhood learners in public programs who are in households participating in MFIP or DWP or receiving SNAP.